Tests of a temporal theory of attentional binding

Different features of stimuli present in the field of view appear to be registered in different cortical maps. How, then, are the features that come from the same object bound together rather than mistakenly assembled with features coming from other simultaneously present objects? One theory supposes that an attentional mechanism intercepts input coming from particular retinal locations at a way station prior to parsing of the features from the same object. Any enhancement (or facilitation) at that stage will cause all the features from that object to be modified simultaneously in the downstream registers. The imposed temporal synchronicity serves as the essential binding cue. Five experiments provided no support for the theory. There is no tendency for synchronicity of features to cause binding unless the features come from the same location. Location, rather than temporal synchronicity, appears to be the essential cue for binding.     

Relation of scores on the Open Middle Test to self-control and academic achievement of inner-city fourth-grade children

The construct validity of the Open Middle Test, a measure of children's social problem-solving ability, was investigated by assessing its relationship to self-control (Self-control Rating Scale) and academic achievement (Wide-Range Achievement Test). Subjects were 113 minority fourth graders from two urban parochial schools. A significant correlation was obtained between Open Middle Test effectiveness scores of first responses and WRAT Reading scores. No other correlations were significant. However, mean differences were significant for Open Middle Test effectiveness ratings of first responses and chosen responses, suggesting possible deficits in the evaluation of self-generated problem solutions. Implications of the results for training programs and for the use of the Open Middle Test as an outcome measure are discussed.     

Intrinsic religiousness and religious coping as life stress moderators for Catholics versus Protestants

Two prospective studies were conducted to test the stress-moderating effects of intrinsic religiousness and overall religious coping on the depression and trait anxiety of Catholic and Protestant college students. Both studies found a significant cross-sectional interaction between controllable life stress and religious coping in the prediction of Catholics' depression, with religious coping serving a protective function at a high level of controllable negative events. Both studies also found a significant prospective interaction between uncontrollable life stress and intrinsic religiousness in the prediction of Protestants' depression; the relationship between uncontrollable stress and depression was positive for low intrinsic Protestants, flat for medium intrinsic Protestants, but negative for high intrinsic Protestants. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the role of religion in life stress adjustment.     

Frequency synthesis with the Commodore Amiga for research on perception and memory of pitch

The potential of the Commodore Amiga as a digital synthesizer for research and demonstration in psychoacoustics and memory is discussed. Economy, ease of use, flexibility, portability, and accuracy outweigh disadvantages of narrow bandwidth, narrow dynamic range, and storage limitations for many applications encountered in pilot research and education. The Amiga also bears serious consideration for psychoacoustic studies requiring frequencies below 4000 Hz and modest signal-to-noise ratio, as exemplified by an implementation for research in absolute judgment, similarity scaling, and sequential pattern tracking.     

Prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood risk factors and drug involvement in adolescence

This study examined prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood risk factors in relation to the etiology of adolescent involvement in cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Over a span of 10 years, data were collected on 638 mainly White mother-child pairs at three points in time: at T1, when the children were 1 to 10 years old; at T2, when they were 9 to 18, and again at T3, when they were 11 to 20. Results showed that the early risks of an unwanted pregnancy and major illness were linked to all of the drug categories except "other illicit drugs." Aspects of mutual attachment in the mother-adolescent relationship were negatively correlated with adolescent drug use. Data on the interrelationship of the domains (i.e., sets of variables) of early risk factors and mother-adolescent relations supported an independent model with respect to cigarette and marijuana involvement, a finding in keeping with results showing that early risk did not significantly affect mother-adolescent relations. However, mother-adolescent protective factors were able to mitigate the impact of early risk factors on adolescent drug involvement.     

A network of influences on adolescent drug involvement: neighborhood, school, peer, and family

The interrelationship of neighborhood, school, peer, and family factors and adolescent drug involvement was investigated. Data were collected separately from 518 adolescents and their mothers when the children were between 9 and 18 years of age and again two years later. Neighborhood and school effects were not directly related to adolescent drug use. Neighborhood effects were mediated through the domains of school, peer, and family; school effects were mediated through the peer domain. Family and peer variables had a direct impact on adolescent drug involvement. Risk factors in the adolescents' peer environment can be ameliorated by protective factors in their school environment. Implications for the prevention of drug use are discussed.     

The effects of interference tasks on recency in the free recall of action events

Summary Lists of verbal instructions were read aloud and each was enacted either by the subject (SPTs) or by the experimenter (EPTs). In Experiment 1 free recall was made of lists of SPTs and EPTs either immediately after presentation, after an empty 20-s delay interval, or after a 20-s delay interval filled with backward counting. The recall of recency items was unaffected by the empty delay interval, but was somewhat reduced by the counting task. In Experiment 2 free recall was made of lists of SPTs and EPTs either immediately after presentation or after a delay that was filled with a single SPT or a single EPT, 20 s in length. The recency effect evident in the immediate-recall condition was virtually wiped out in the delay conditions, irrespective of whether the delay task matched those in the free-recall list or not. These results are discussed in terms of the mnemonic similarity of the two types of action event.     

Characteristics of social cognition in children with different symptom patterns

Clinically referred 6- to 12-year-old children as having Internalizing or Externalizing symptoms patterns on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist were compared on two social perspective taking tasks and three measures of personality. On the Chandler Social Perspective Taking Task and an interview assessing the conceptual understanding of friendship devised by Selman, social cognitive immaturity was more likely to be associated with Externalizing rather than Internalizing symptomatology, especially in boys. Both Internalizers and Externalizers maintained an expected developmental course on these measures, however, when compared to normative data. Greater maturity in the understanding of friendship was found among children who had higher self-esteem and a more internal locus of control and who used more adaptive coping strategies in stressful situations. Methodological issues in studies of psychopathology and social cognition are discussed along with the usefulness of assessing social cognitive maturity in clinical practice.